The naming ceremony for the gas carrier Taebaek Explorer was held at the Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co shipyard in Yeongam, Jeollanamdo, South Korea at the end of March 2024.
The vessel is the first of two dual-fuel LPG newbuild very large gas carriers (VLGC) built for Hyundai Glovis that will be on long-term charter with Trafigura.
The vessels has an 86,000 cubic metres (cbm) capacity for LPG and/or ammonia. Trafigura said the new vessels will ‘play a key role’ in expanding its ammonia carrying capacity, ‘facilitating the transportation of both blue and green ammonia globally and to support the development of a global ammonia bunkering infrastructure network’.
The second vessel of the series, Sobaek Explorer, is expected to launch in mid-2024.
There are about 50 gas carriers that can ship ammonia from around the world, about 10 per cent of the total fleet.
